


duty is (the death of love)

by LiveLaughLovex



Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Past Harper Li/Bard (The Code), Past John "Abe" Abraham/Alex Hunt, Post-Episode: s01e09 Smoke Pit, Season/Series 01 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 18:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: “There are times when the odds are bad enough that it’s best to just cut your losses.”Post "Smoke Pit." It isn't until after she's back in Virginia that Harper learns she's not the only one who's had to deal with heartbreak.





	duty is (the death of love)

**Author's Note:**

> I'd written about 500 words of a conversation between Abe and Harper during commercial breaks throughout the episode. It didn't end the way I'd expected it to, so I had to edit heavily to make it so this wasn't entirely canon divergent. It's a little bit speculative, though. 
> 
> "Duty is the death of love." - Game of Thrones (yes, I did take my title from a show I've never seen more than a few clips of. It was too good to pass up, all right?). 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“I called off my engagement.” 

Abe glanced up at the sound of Harper’s voice. “Okay,” he replied slowly, raising a curious brow at the cautious glint in her gaze. He gestured to the seat across from him, smiling slightly when she practically collapsed into it. “Would you like to expand on that, or…?”

“I feel like it’s a pretty straightforward declaration.” Harper sighed when his gaze didn’t waver. “I didn’t want a wedding,” she informed him begrudgingly. “And he didn’t want to elope. And we both hated the future the other was planning. I wanted a simple life; he wanted a Stepford wife. You can see how those ideas don’t exactly mesh.”

“Marines do not make good Stepford wives. I’m pretty sure that’s Marine 101.” Abe smirked when the woman seated across from him rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Brad’s a jackass,” he added seriously. “I know you care about him, but anyone who doesn’t want you to be exactly who you are needs their head examined. Ask Dobbins or Ferry. Hell, ask Turnbull. I guarantee you they’ll agree with me.”

“He warned me. I mean, I didn’t know he was warning me, at the time, but he was. Warning me, that is.” Harper shook her head. “When I agreed to help with the Lucas court martial, he asked if I was into the wedding, if I was sure I wanted to marry him. I told him I was. And I meant it. But all those times he told me he wanted to spend his life with me, he was lying. He wanted to spend his life with the girl who liked frilly dresses and mocktails. Not the one who works sixteen-hour days and sometimes goes leaves for war zones without telling him.” She met Abe’s eyes once more. “I know you hate talking about these things…”

“About my coworkers’ love lives? Yes, I do.”

“…but Dobbins is still dealing with whatever’s going on with her brother, and Ferry’s got everything with Nona and the baby, so I don’t really have anyone else to talk to,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “Believe me, I’m not any more thrilled with the situation here than you are.”

“Mm. You do know there’re people you don’t work with that you can talk to, right?” Abe shrugged apologetically when she shot him an unimpressed glare. “Look, you are really underestimating how much I don’t want to have this conversation. I’m just trying to give us both an out.”

“You know, this right here? It’s making it really hard to believe all the nice things you said five minutes ago. Plus, all my friends are going to end up taking his side, so I can’t really talk to them about it.” She exhaled sharply. “They’ll also all talk to my mother, so that’s another point against them.”

“What about your maid of honor? Didn’t you say once she was the best friend you’d ever had?”

“Mm. Yeah, she is. She’s also the friend that introduced us.” Harper shrugged in response to his wince. “So, you can probably imagine how she’s taking the news.”

“Okay, so maybe there aren’t people outside the office you can talk to,” Abe amended. “If you need to hear somebody tell you that you did the right thing, Li, then fine. You did the right thing. Someone who doesn’t understand service is never going to be able to understand you, no matter how long he’s known you.”

“Can you tell my mother that?” Harper asked hopefully.

“I’ll send her an email,” he returned dryly. “Look, the fact of the matter is that you’re a good lawyer. More than that, though, you’re a good Marine. You shouldn’t give anybody who can’t see that the time of day.” His eyes widened slightly. “I have to stop hanging out with Nona. It’s made me sentimental.”

“You tell her that, you’ll make her cry,” Harper warned amusedly.

“Okay, so maybe I won’t stop hanging out with Nona,” Abe muttered. “Ferry’s a pretty level-headed guy, but if I make his pregnant wife cry, I’ll be ready to go six feet under in ten seconds flat.” He eyed her for a moment before speaking again. “Why’d you come here, to the office?” he asked curiously. “It’s almost eleven o’clock. Nobody’s around. Why didn’t you go home?”

“There’s a lot of wine at home,” Harper informed him. “And I don’t want to spend the next two days hungover, which, honestly, I probably would if faced with that much alcohol. Plus, when my mother finds out and calls every fifteen seconds to yell at me in Mandarin, I won’t be entirely lying when I tell her I’m at work, because I’m at least in the building.” She hesitated for a moment. “Why are you here?”

“Because I didn’t really want to go home to a cold and empty apartment,” he replied evenly, nodding to the stack of paperwork in front of him. “I also like to least _pretend_ I do this part of my job from time to time.”

“I thought you usually spent the nights over at the Hunts.” Harper scoffed when Abe glanced up from his work to stare at her. “Come on, Captain Abraham. I’m a trained Marine who’s been behind enemy lines. If I couldn’t see what was right in front of me, I would’ve died in that firefight.”

“Yeah, well, as obvious as we’ve apparently made it,” Abe muttered, jotting his signature on the bottom of a form and then placing it atop the others stacked neatly to one side, “there is nothing for anyone to see anymore. We ended things.”

“You ended things?” Harper repeated incredulously. “You haven’t shut up about any of the Hunt girls in _weeks_ , and now I’m just supposed to believe you cut all ties with them in one _night_?”

“I’d pull out the rank card, if I thought it’d make a damn bit of difference to you right now.” Abe sighed. “Her lawyer said he’d drop her as a client if we carried on as we were. Apparently, the plaintiff and main witness being romantically involved doesn’t do great things for the odds of a case’s outcome.”

“I could’ve told you that,” Harper replied sharply. “You’ve never let bad odds stop you before, though. Why let them stop you now?”

“Because usually, when the odds are bad, it’s my life there’s a chance will be put in danger or screwed up. It isn’t just me who’ll get hurt if that lawyer falls through on his threats to drop her, Harper. It’s Alex. It’s the girls.” He shrugged helplessly. “It’s their futures I’d be putting on the line. I can’t justify it. Not if the only reason for anything being at risk is my happiness.” He cleared his throat. “There are times when the odds are bad enough that it’s best to just cut your losses.”

“I’m sorry.” Harper appeared genuine as she stared at him from across the desk. “I’m sorry you had to choose.”

“Yeah,” he returned. “I’m sorry you had to choose, too.”

It was quite a while before the room echoed with anything other than silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Harper and Abe are my favorites on the show, if that's not clear from my writing. I like to pretend they're best friends when not in the office. I like to pretend that when it comes to most of the characters, honestly. Their friendship is just easier for me to write for some reason, and I couldn't ignore the hurt they both must be feeling after this latest episode. Since I don't imagine they'll get an in-depth conversation about it onscreen, I wanted to write my own before the next episode aired. That is how these nearly 1200 words came about.


End file.
